From The Inside
by Todd Bodine-Staff Writer and Winston Cup Driver
10/03/2003

Hi Race Fans -

The NASCAR Winston Cup Series made our final trip to the restrictor plate track of Talladega Superspeedway last weekend. Our qualifying has not been that impressive on these types of tracks this year, but we were hoping that the new rule changes could play into our advantage.

From a practice standpoint, we ran a consistent speed once we unloaded the truck. Unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough and the new rule changes hindered us even further. This track is all about horsepower and a good aerodynamically sound car and it just was not good enough this weekend. It's a gamble you take especially with the number of cars that showed up.

We were scheduled to go out in sixth in time trials, but were forced to go out third since the cars in front of us had not been through inspection yet. It was not the greatest of runs. We were lacking, and the time wasn't good and had to wait on the rest of the field and hope that a provisional was waiting for us.

This car has never really qualified that well and it's never run a fast lap by itself, but it runs great in the draft and in races. Unfortunately, you've got to get in the race first. We're not going to get in with most of the Roush cars having to take provisionals, as well as Dale Jr. and Jason Keller getting disqualified after post-qualifying inspection. When all of those cars have first right to provisionals, we had to go home. It's a shame, but it's just part of racing.

With Talladega behind us, we're concentrating on the rest of the season including this weekend from Kansas Speedway.

For the first time since Chicagoland Speedway in July, I'll be pulling double duty. I will be racing in both the NASCAR Busch Series and Cup Series this weekend. No, I won't be behind the wheel of the No. 92 Herzog-Jackson Motorsports entry, but driving the No. 48 IMI/Gould's Pumps Chevrolet for Innovative Motorsports on Saturday.

The Busch deal is just a one-race deal to help out George deBidart and his No. 48 IMI race team. I thought it was a great opportunity for me because it gives me extra seat time. We weren't able to come to Kansas and test the National Guard car, so hopefully what I learn on Saturday will transfer over to Sunday's race.

As far as the No. 54 National Guard Ford, I'm excited. The guys really worked hard in putting this car together. We went over all the cars in our inventory and found a few things we wanted to revise on some of them, so this is our first effort after regrouping. I am pretty excited about racing this car. We were originally going to run this car at Charlotte, but we feel really confident about it, so we are pushing up its debut by a week. I am gunning for the pole and a top-10 finish.

I like racing at all the tracks we go to, but for some reason, the D-shaped tracks seem to fit my style. I've run well at Las Vegas and Chicagoland and both of those tracks have the same amount of banking as Kansas. Since they also have the same feel, we can compare our race notes from Vegas and Chicago. Hopefully, we will come up with the right combination for qualifying and the race.

Thanks to everyone for their continuing support of our race team. I appreciate it.

The NASCAR Busch Series and Winston Cup Series are ready to attack Kansas Speedway this weekend.The green flag for the Mr. Goodcents 300 drops shortly after 2:00 PM EST, with live coverage on NBC beginning at 2:00 PM EST, with MRN radio also joining at 1:45 PM EST.

The green flag for the Banquet 400 drops shortly after 1:00 PM EST, with live coverage on NBC beginning at 12:30 PM EST, with MRN radio also joining at 12:30 pm EST.

I am hoping for a great race on Saturday night and hope that you will be keeping an eye on the National Guard Ford along with your favorite driver(s).

I'll talk to you next week and thanks for reading!
Todd Bodine